Looks like someone was using performance enhancing technologies:

An Indian chess player has been banned from competing for 10 years after seeking the assistance of a computer via a bluetooth headset.

Umakant Sharma was caught during a “random check” in a New Delhi tournament on 4 December, Information Week reports. The headset was sewn into a cap which he “typically pulled down over his ears”. The All India Chess Federation (AICF) found Sharma’s accomplices had used a computer to calculate moves and had transmitted the recommendations to him via said headset.

ChessBase has posted a bunch of stats once again trying to determine the greatest chess player of all time.

The interesting thing about this study is that it compares the quality of the moves, not just the win/lose/draw results.

I could tell you who their #1 player is, but why ruin the fun?  See if you can guess who it is, and then go check out ChessBase’s article.

The Kenilworthian has a very detailed review of ChessLecture.com.

We all know that slowly working through problems and annotated games in front of the board is probably the best real practice for classical game situations, especially for the young. But we also know that we have work to do, kids to feed, and lawns to cut and that most of us also have less and less time for classical play. It would be great to work through deeply annotated games or opening analysis at a real chess board, but for most of us that is just not going to happen any time soon. As I suggested in my review of Chess Openings for White, Explained, there are the chess books we buy because we would like to read them and then there are those we actually find time to read because they are user-friendly. ChessLecture.com is the most user-friendly mode of chess learning available and it is one you will actually use.

As someone who really likes ChessFM, I can see there being a value to ChessLecture.com.  My only problem is time.  So much to learn…so few hours!

Some seniors at UMass Amherst have invented a chess machine called autoMate.  The article is short on details, but I liked this bit:

Scott M. Fleming, a computer systems engineering student from Ware, said he hopes another team can someday improve upon autoMate by making it more compact and faster, among other things. James M. Asermely, an electrical engineering student from Seekonk, also worked on the project.

“I’d love to see another group take it on and improve on it,” Fleming said. “I would love to see it be voice-activated.”

Do we have systems that let handicap people easily play chess?  Voice activitation would be a big step in that direction.

According to the US Department of State, chess is gaining popularity again in US schools.

Formerly the refuge of nerds, dweebs, wonks and misfits, chess has become one of the hottest activities in schools across the United States.  The chess programs, however, are not designed to turn out more grand masters or produce a new American world chess champion.  Educators promote chess for the impressive academic gains it brings to students.

…

No one has firm numbers on how many kids have taken up the game in recent years, but one academic has said that there has been “a veritable explosion of young chess players� across the United States.

Unfortuneately, the article is pretty short on actual numbers.